


Til morning light

by Vampiric_Charms



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:54:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29743902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampiric_Charms/pseuds/Vampiric_Charms
Summary: Ahsoka is injured while assisting Bo-Katan on a rescue mission. The fallout from this is not exactly the simple recovery Bo-Katan expects, and she does not know what to do with herself in the aftermath.
Relationships: Bo-Katan Kryze & Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49





	Til morning light

“Ahsoka!” Bo-Katan snapped angrily, holding her down on the bed when she tried yet again to sit up. “If you do not lie still, I swear on the graves of my ancestors I will tie you down until the doctor arrives.”

Even with the very real threat, Ahsoka still did her best to shake off Bo-Katan’s iron grip from her arms, though her best just then wasn’t much. 

“I’m fine, Bo,” she said fruitlessly. 

But Bo-Katan could hear the slur to those few words, could see the confusion in her glassy blue eyes, and she redoubled her effort to keep Ahsoka in place. Ahsoka’s strength ran out quickly under Bo-Katan’s and she gave up, falling back to the thin cot and sniffling pitifully when she saw the futility in her plan to leave. 

“My head hurts,” she finally mumbled with a little frown.

“I bet it does,” Bo-Katan agreed mildly, her grip still strong on Ahsoka’s shoulders in case she tried to move again. “The trooper hit you pretty hard.”

That was an understatement, and Bo-Katan still felt the wave of terror that squeezed her stomach when the stormtrooper had come behind Ahsoka as she fought off the handful of others, when he rammed her in the head with his iron pole arm. Bo-Katan had been a fraction too slow in her shot, hitting him squarely but still in time to see Ahsoka fall to one knee from his blow. 

Bo-Katan has been too far away to rush to her side without forfeiting her position, though she’d given Ahsoka blaster cover as she finished her fight and downed the rest of the troopers. By that point, her team had recovered their fellow Mandalorian from the Empire’s prison and they’d been able to retreat to safety. 

Which is when Bo-Katan realized Ahsoka had actually been injured far more than she’d initially realized. 

An argument had ensued, which Bo-Katan won by default when Ahsoka had essentially passed out in the cargo bay when they disembarked the shuttle. None of that had helped Bo-Katan feel any better about not being there at Ahsoka’s side, to prevent it from happening in the first place.

After Ahsoka was still in the bed for several calm seconds, her eyes staring at an unfocused spot on the ceiling, Bo-Katan moved one of her hands to run it over Ahsoka’s clammy forehead. She was sweating and looked very uncomfortable, and Bo-Katan wasn’t sure how to help her until their doctor was able to come take a look. 

“I think you have a concussion,” Bo-Katan told her, at least recognizing that much. “Just take it easy for a while.”

“You got Kida out, right? She’s okay?”

Bo-Katan nodded, and Ahsoka’s glassy eyes slid over to settle on her. Bo-Katan cupped her cheek, rubbing a thumb over the warm skin. “She’s safe now. Thank you for your help.”

“Welcome,” Ahsoka murmured with a tired sigh. She turned her face into Bo-Katan’s hand, her eyes slipping closed. 

Bo-Katan sat on the edge of the cot, finally releasing her restraining hold on Ahsoka’s other shoulder when it seemed the struggle had left her. She wasn’t asleep, just resting, and Bo-Katan continued the movement of her thumb over Ahsoka’s cheek, watching silently as she breathed. In and out, in and out. 

The chime at the door dinged, then the door itself slid open without waiting for permission. Zena, their retired warrior-turned-doctor out of necessity over the years, let herself inside and clucked her tongue at the sight of Ahsoka lying on the bed. 

Ahsoka opened her eyes with obvious effort when Bo-Katan’s hand withdrew from her face, though she didn’t bother standing from the bed. Thankfully Ahsoka didn’t move, either. 

“You _Jetii_ ,” Zena grumbled, dropping a small tray on the bedside table with a clang that made Ahsoka flinch. “All of you, you think you’re invincible. Nothing like us -”

“ _K’uur_ , Zena,” Bo-Katan barked, scowling furiously. “Just shut up and help her.”

Zena shot her a quick look, whatever retort she had withering when Bo-Katan fixed her with a fierce glare. She knew not all of her people liked Ahsoka, but this was not the time. She was tired, and Ahsoka was injured, and she was likely to kill anyone who rubbed her the wrong way. 

She already had the blood of dozens on her hands just from the last six hours alone. Her fuse was very short. 

“Bo, don’t be mad,” Ahsoka mumbled in a dazed sort of way, reaching blindly for her. 

They both glanced over, though Ahsoka didn’t really seem to know what was going on. She was reacting to Bo-Katan’s voice, her emotions, and Bo-Katan felt herself deflate a little at the realization. She took up Ahsoka’s searching hand, giving her the reassurance she was looking for.

“It’s okay, Ahsoka,” Bo-Katan told her quietly. 

Zena didn’t say anything, picking up a scanner and flicking it on. She ran it by Ahsoka’s face and around her head, taking note of the readings. “A concussion,” she confirmed, dropping the scanner back to the tray in exchange for a hypospray.

She loaded it with a canister and then hesitated when she turned back. 

“Can I just - you know, move those?” she asked, pointing to one of the long lekku draped over Ahsoka’s neck and shoulder blocking direct access for the spray. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

Instead of bothering to respond, Bo-Katan stood and snatched the hypospray from Zena’s hand. She leaned over Ahsoka, pushed her lek aside so it thumped to the mattress, and depressed the spray into her neck. She shoved the used device back into Zena’s hand without comment. 

Ahsoka sighed behind her. The medication was already working to relieve the pressure around her brain, taking away her pain and the immediate danger of her injury. 

Bo-Katan felt her own fears easing, as well, and she breathed softly with relief. 

“How’s Kida?”

Zena blinked at her, apparently having expected some kind of rebuff for her previous hesitation. She relaxed a tiny bit, the tension in the room vanishing. 

“Physically, she’s all right. Emotionally - the Empire did a number on her, while she was their prisoner. She will need some time to recover. I’m glad she’s home now, though I suggest we find a more permanent place for her to convalesce. Being on this ship, surrounded by violence, will not help her state of mind. I’ve put her to sleep for a while.”

Bo-Katan nodded, sitting heavily on the cot again. She lowered her head to her hands, sadness a thick lump in her stomach. “Ahsoka will know a safe place,” she said. “I’ll talk to her about it later and let you know.”

“Okay,” Zena agreed, already packing up her supplies with more care than she’d set them down with. She left a few analgesic pods on the table, as well as a handful Bo-Katan recognized as pills to help her sleep. 

As if she’d actually take any of those. 

Zena seemed to hear her thoughts on the subject and pierced her with a weary glance. “Sleep, if you can,” she said, then added softly, “and let your _Jetii_ sleep, too. There will be a big bump on her head that will hurt for a while but otherwise there will be no lasting effects of the trauma.”

Bo-Katan hummed her acknowledgment without looking up, and Zena left her in silence. The door hissed shut behind her.

Tears burned behind her eyes and she squeezed them closed tightly, dropping her head all the way down between her knees. Stress of the day, adrenaline of a battle long over, weighed heavily against her chest until it was difficult to breathe. She almost felt like she might vomit. 

But they’d succeeded in rescuing Kida - and Ahsoka was okay.

It was just so much, sometimes. 

Maybe she was going to be sick after all. She might need to -

“Bo?”

Ahsoka’s tired, concerned voice cut through her thoughts, tearing her gaze up guiltily.

Ahsoka’s limp hand was patting aimlessly around the mattress, seeking Bo-Katan’s grasp, and her fingers bumped against Bo-Katan’s thigh, instead. Her eyes were still glassy, unfocused, as she tried to make out where Bo-Katan was beside her. 

“I’m here,” Bo-Katan said, grabbing Ahsoka’s hand with both of hers and putting their clasped hands in her lap.

“You okay?” Ahsoka asked.

Bo-Katan frowned at her, caught off guard. Her voice was so soft, her words still slurred, and she was blinking slowly, as if she were talking about something Bo-Katan hadn’t been clued into quite yet. That hypospray must have been a good one. 

“You feel so sad,” Ahsoka mumbled, her head lolling limply on the pillow. “Did something bad happen? Am I making you unhappy?”

Something in Bo-Katan’s stomach squeezed and, again, she felt bile rise up her throat. Ahsoka’s openness made her uneasy, as if her footing were somehow off and saying the wrong thing would send them both careening over a cliff. 

She was very bad at these things. 

She squeezed Ahsoka’s hand, trying her best to reassure where her words were likely to fall flat. “You never make me unhappy.”

“Then why are you sad?”

“Are you reading my mind, Ahsoka?” Bo-Katan asked, trying to keep her voice light and joking. But Ahsoka’s face cracked, her expression falling into abject misery, and Bo-Katan immediately regretted her question.

“I don’t mean to, Bo, I’m sorry,” Ahsoka said, and she sounded so genuinely distressed that Bo-Katan’s heart all but broke with confused concern. She slid off the bed and instead dropped to her knees beside Ahsoka’s shoulders to be closer to her. 

Ahsoka began to cry. “I’m sorry, I know you don’t like that I was a Jedi.”

“Ahsoka!” Bo-Katan chided, horrified at this rare glimpse into the depths of Ahsoka’s self-doubts. She knew this was slipping out because of her pain, because of the medications the doctor had given her, but it was still hurtful to hear. “How can you think that!”

“Jedi and Mandalorians are enemies, you should hate me,” Ahsoka continued as if Bo-Katan hadn’t spoken at all.

“Hate you!” Bo-Katan scoffed at that and, instead of simply wiping away Ahsoka’s tears, she grabbed Ahsoka’s chin and turned her face so their eyes met. “You _listen_ to me,” she said fiercely. “I know you are drugged out of your mind, so I’ll do my best not to be angry with you for this. If I hated you, Ahsoka, I would never have given myself to you, nor would I have ever taken you into my clan. You would not even be here in my bed right now. Got it?”

Ahsoka just sniffled, but Bo-Katan took that as understanding enough for the state she was in. She released her hold on Ahsoka’s chin and sat back on her heels, reaching out again to rub the tears from Ahsoka’s cheeks with the backs of her fingers. 

“You’re a mess,” she grumbled.

“You don’t hate me,” Ahsoka whispered, and thankfully this time it wasn't a question. She smiled, her entire face relaxing, the anxiety fading as quickly as it had come. 

“Of course I don’t hate you, you great idiot,” Bo-Katan said affectionately, though she still felt somewhat breathless with the idea Ahsoka could think such a thing even on a subconscious level. She traced the angular white patterns over her forehead, relieved to find her skin wasn’t as clammy as it had been earlier. 

“Think you can get some sleep?” she asked softly. 

Ahsoka gazed at her, eyes hazy but gentle with emotion, with a familiar adoration that eased the pain in Bo-Katan’s chest. “Are you going to stay here with me?” Ahsoka murmured.

“If you want me to.”

“I want that.”

Bo-Katan ran her hand over Ahsoka’s forehead again. “Then yeah, I’ll stay right here. Now close your eyes and dream for a while, _cyar'ika_.”

“What does that word mean?” Ahsoka asked tiredly, already dozing off. 

“I’ll tell you when you wake up,” Bo-Katan promised, picking up Ahsoka’s hand and kissing her knuckles. 

“Mm, don’t forget.”

“I won’t,” Bo-Katan said, though she was quite sure at this point Ahsoka would not remember any of this conversation herself.

Bo-Katan was okay with that.

She needed to check on Kida, to make sure she was recovering as well as she could be, given the circumstances. But Zena had said she was sleeping and, for now, that was best. And besides, Bo-Katan thought as she settled on the floor and crossed her legs, she had told Ahsoka she would stay.


End file.
